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This new album from Chris Caffery (Savatage, Doctor Butcher) is in fact the bonus CD from the album "Faces" seeing proper release, along with a few extra tracks. I wasn't familiar with Chris' solo material and I must admit I was a bit hesitant to pop this one in, as I'm always suspicious when it comes to solo stuff. It took a couple of listens for this album to start sinking in, but after that I was hooked. This is a mix of heavy and power metal with a hint of progressive and quite a few winks at classic and hard rock. The lyrics are essentially social and political - song names such as "God Damn War", "Election Day", "Saddamize" and "Iraq Attack" are enough to give you a hint that this is not about elves or scoring chicks. :)

The vocals are, along with the guitars (that goes without saying), the highlight of the album. With some powerful and aggressive, somewhat angry vocals (no, not "nu-metal angry" - those are fake), Chris gives an added dimension to both the music and the lyrics, and one cannot help but be entranced by songs such as "God Damn War". Some very powerful material here, which makes all the much weirder that there are a few odd tracks that kind of break the mood with a lighter, goofier approach. Not to mention "Amazing Grace" which seems to pop out of nowhere! But with more and more listen, this apparent chaos slowly starts falling into place. Despite the serious lyrical content, a lot of the songs rock quite a bit and are very catchy (I got quite a few looks from coworkers passing by my office, seeing me tap my foot, headbang and air drum all at the same time. :)) Very interesting album that'll keep you busy for a while - the kind of album that offers something new with every listen - and it gets better with each subsequent listen. A note for Jon Oliva fans: He's a guest vocalist on "Iraq Attack". Favourite song: "God Damn War" - It rocks, it's diversified, and the atmosphere that surrounds it will lift you off the ground. I'll be checking out Chris Caffery's back catalogue now.